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Friday, 7 March 2008

KFH in talks on projects in Sabah Development Corridor

KUALA LUMPUR: Kuwait Finance House (M) Bhd (KFH) is in talks with 10 to 12 companies eyeing projects in the Sabah Development Corridor (SDC).Managing director Datuk K. Salman Younis said it was talking to the companies about different financing opportunities.“It is an ongoing process, and hopefully before year-end, the deals will start happening,” he told reporters after KFH signed a master terms of reference agreement with Calyon London to conclude an Ijarah Rental Swap-i (IRS-i) transaction yesterday.

Salman said the companies were interested to get financing for projects such as logging, deforestation, real estate and infrastructure.The IRS-i would enable clients to hedge their market risk exposure through employing a fully syariah-compliant structure. It is designed to the unique needs of the client, with tenures varying in accordance to the preference of the client.“The KFH IRS-i will enable our customers to effectively hedge against the risk market rate exposure.“Companies can convert either their fixed or floating rate cash flow commitments into more manageable rate exposure suitable with their risk appetite, which will help mitigate the occurrence of any negative impact to volatility and uncertainty in the movement of market rates,” he said.